Agenda item

A report by the Deputy Development Manager

The Deputy Development Manager presented the report confirming that there had been 6 Appeals since the last report to Members, which comprised of 2 planning decision appeals and 4 enforcement notice appeals. Of those, one enforcement appeal had been allowed, and 5 appeals had been dismissed.

Members were advised that no Costs Awards had been made in connection with any of the Appeals. In general terms, the Council had been able to demonstrate its position in respect of all Appeals, generally the Local Plan policy continued to perform well with all those appeals that were determined being dismissed by Inspectors in line with Officer Decisions.  It was however notable that Inspectors afforded weight to other material considerations including the general sustainability of locations and environmental, social, and economic benefits of proposals when forming their planning balance.  That was not uncharacteristic when considering wider decisions across the Partnership and the general trend nationally and was in accordance with Planning Officers approach to decision making.

Overall, the Council’s Appeal performance remained good and was better than national target over the rolling 2-year period.  That was a good indicator of the quality of decision taking. It was also considered to be reflective of the current position with the adopted local plan, which would have an effect in terms of guiding development and reducing the Councils exposure to speculative applications.

Committee noted the report.